Ams-Graphite Target Production Methods at the Woods-Hole Oceanographic Institution during 1986-1991

TitleAms-Graphite Target Production Methods at the Woods-Hole Oceanographic Institution during 1986-1991
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication1993
AuthorsGagnon, AR, Jones, GA
JournalRadiocarbon
Volume35
Issue2
Pagination301-310
Date Published1993
ISBN Number0033-8222
Keywordsaccelerator mass-spectrometry, facility, ocean, radiocarbon, samples, sediments
Abstract

In July 1986, an AMS radiocarbon target preparation laboratory was established at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution to produce graphite to be analyzed at the NSF-Accelerator Facility for Radioisotope Analysis at the University of Arizona (Tucson). By June 1991, 923 graphite targets had been prepared and 847 analyzed. Our lab procedures during this time included the careful documentation of weights of all starting samples, catalysts and final graphite yields, as well as the volume of CO2 gas evolved during CaCO3 hydrolysis or closed-tube organic carbon combustions. From these data, we evaluate the methods used in general and in our lab.